A Mind So Rare by Merlin Donald, reviewed: “There has been tremendous progress over the past few decades in understanding the nature and functioning of human consciousness. Although this knowledge has not yet settled into an explicit consensus, and details are lacking, nevertheless all the necessary elements are in place. A theory of human consciousness is here or hereabouts.

From the evidence of this book, Donald is one of those who substantially understand consciousness — which is to say that he can give a coherent and broadly valid account of the evolved function of consciousness and its main modes of operation. A Mind So Rare can therefore be added to a list that would include Francis Crick’s The Astonishing Hypothesis (1994), and Antonio R Damasio’s Descartes’ Error (1994) and The Feeling of What Happens (1999).” British Medical Journal